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Environmental Phobias

Fear of Sand – Ammophobia

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Brushing off Ammophobia

Do you feel uncomfortable at the thought of going to the beach? Do you avoid going near deserts for fear of sand?

Do you break into a cold sweat when you think of walking on sand? Does thinking about sand send shivers down your spine?

You may have ammophobia—the fear of sand. A related fear, ammosophobia, is the fear of standing on sand. Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably.

Is Ammophobia a Phobia of Fear or Disgust?

Fear of sand may seem like a silly fear not usually found on lists of phobias, but it is as terrifying as any other phobia.

The good news is that you can learn to manage your symptoms with a combination of self-help and professional help. But before diving into the treatment options, let’s check out the common ammophobia causes and symptoms.

Ammophobia Causes

Ammophobia can have different causes depending on the individual and their experience with sand. But the most common cause of fear of sand is the fear of sinking in quicksand or the fear of getting cuts when walking barefoot on the sand.

Your fear may have developed based on personal experience or stories heard about others sinking in quicksand.

You may have watched a movie where a character sinks into quicksand or a television program explaining how dangerous quicksand is. Some with this fear may have been hurt when they walked barefoot on the sand and developed a fear of walking on sand.

Is ammophobia a phobia of Fear or Disgust?

Environmental or hereditary factors are two other causes of ammophobia. This implies that you either inherited it from a parent or witnessed sand-related suffering. This is more likely if your family worked in mining, foundries, and stone cutting.

Some Things You Should Know about Ammophobia

There are three types of ammophobia. People may fear quicksand, sand cuts, or possible health hazards transmitted from the sand. Out of the three, the fear of sinking in quicksand certainly sounds most terrifying. So let’s focus on that.

If you believe what you saw in movies about quicksand, you might have developed a fear which, in turn, became a phobia.

But a study published in Nature shows that it is impossible to sink entirely into quicksand. It turns out that you will only sink about waist deep. In other words, unless you fall face-first into quicksand, there is a very low chance of death. So, the next time you see a quicksand scene, remember that it’s not entirely accurate.

Fear of sand hazards can also lead to ammophobia. For example, you may have heard about the dangers of quartz dust present in the sand. These are minute particles that are small enough to enter the lungs and can cause serious health problems.

In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified inhaled quartz dust as a human carcinogen. So, if you’re afraid of sand, know that your dread is justified.

Ammophobia Symptoms

Common ammophobia symptoms include:

Physical Symptoms

  • Difficulty breathing when thinking about sand
  • Nausea
  • Increased heart rate
  • Obsessive, uncontrollable thoughts about sand
  • Choking sensation
  • Chest pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Excessive sweating
  • Dizziness

Psychological Symptoms

  • Panic attacks when near sand
  • Anxiety
  • Fear
  • Discomfort
  • Feeling like you have no control over yourself
  • Depression
  • Constantly imagining interactions with sand

Depending on the severity of your phobia, you may notice some or all of these symptoms. However, your phobia has likely advanced if your symptoms progress rapidly or cause frequent anxiety and panic attacks.

How Is Ammophobia Diagnosed?

Diagnosis of any phobia is based on diagnostic guidelines and a clinical interview. Most mental health professionals consult the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which provides diagnostic criteria for specific phobias from the American Psychiatric Association.

The DSM-5 lists the following criteria to diagnose a phobia:

  • Avoidance or extreme distress: Avoiding the object at all costs.
  • Immediate anxiety response: The reaction should be immediate once exposed to the object.
  • Excessive, unreasonable fear: Exhibition of extreme, irrational, persistent, and intense fear triggered by a specific object.
  • Life limiting: Phobia dramatically limits one’s social and personal life.
  • Six-month duration: Has experienced symptoms for more than six months.
  • Not caused by another disorder: Not due to other similar conditions like OCD or separation anxiety.

The doctor will be able to make a diagnosis by examining the criteria listed above.

Ammophobia Treatment

Self-Help

Like any other phobia, there is no specific treatment or cure for ammophobia. But if you find the fear disrupting your day-to-day life, perhaps it’s time to look at some ammophobia treatment options.

Relaxation

Relaxation is one option you might consider for treatment of ammophobia. Your heart rate naturally rises when you’re around something you fear. Frequently engaging in relaxation techniques can help lower blood pressure and reduce stress. As a result, you’ll be able to think more clearly and calmly.

Additionally, relaxation will improve your ability to focus and make wise judgments. Try first by learning breathing exercises and practice them daily.

Learning More about Your Phobia

Most of the time we fear something due to misunderstanding. In the case of ammophobia, you may have developed this by watching movies or reading from an unreliable source. Researching your phobia will give you a better understanding.

You may also be able to rid yourself of any thoughts that may have caused this fear. For example, the fear of getting sucked into quicksand is unfounded. You may benefit from understanding that you can never sink entirely into quicksand.

Think Differently

Often, when we face the object of our fear, we focus on the negative aspects. Sometimes we even exaggerate the situation. This will only increase your feelings of anxiety.

Instead, try to be optimistic. It’s important to realize that anxiety helps us prepare for danger, so you shouldn’t aim to eliminate it but learn how to manage it instead.

Breathing Techniques

Getting more oxygen can help you with anxiety, fatigue, and panic attacks. Many breathing techniques are helpful, but alternate nostril, box breathing, and 4-7-8 breathing are the most effective.

Muscle Relaxation

The Progressive Muscle Relaxation technique teaches you to relax your muscles in two steps. First, you begin by tightening certain muscle groups in your body, like your neck and shoulders. You then release the tension and watch as your muscles relax. Practice this when you are around sandy areas to help lower stress and anxiety levels.

Professional Help

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you eliminate negative thoughts and feelings that could negatively affect your life in the long term. During cognitive behavioral therapy, your therapist will help you identify and replace unreasonable thinking patterns with rational ones, also known as cognitive restructuring.

Exposure Therapy

When conquering phobias, it’s best to face your fear gradually and continuously. The therapist may ask you to imagine and confront the feat at first. Over time, they will expose you to the dreaded object or situation in a safe and controlled manner.

Hypnotherapy

The use of hypnosis in conjunction with other techniques can be beneficial for the treatment of phobias. During a hypnotherapy session, the hypnotherapist induces a calm, receptive condition that resembles a trance. They then offer suggestions that help you change your perceptions.

Learning to Cope with Ammophobia

You may not be able to entirely overcome your ammophobia, but you can manage the symptoms and lead a normal life. With early diagnosis and the proper treatment, you will be able to better cope with the phobia in time.

In Conclusion

It takes a lot of effort to learn to control your phobia. So don’t forget to pat yourself on the back when you see some progress. You’ve earned it.

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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